The Incidental Discovery Of An Abandoned Early 20th Century Cemetery

Summary

After the Civil War, Jack Scott and his family homesteaded in the Trinity River floodplain in West Dallas. He was a farmer who died in 1903 and was buried in a 30 foot square family cemetery that was dedicated at that time. The last interment was in 1931 and the cemetery was abandoned. Years later, four feet of the overlying alluvial sand was removed and a large borrow pit was created. The pit was subsequently filled with construction trash. The unmarked cemetery was included in an urban development area. The developer had the cemetery surveyed and removed the construction fill. A ground penetrating radar study defined nine anomalies of which six marked graves. Three adults and three children were uncovered, studied, and have been reburied at a perpetual care cemetery. Based on the coffin hardware, it became apparent that two children were buried in the cemetery before it was dedicated. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017   •
• Scott Cemetery: an Abandoned Early 20th Century Cemetery in Dallas

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 234